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by jasmineee



Category: UDDWP, jasmineacuna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:30:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasmineee/pseuds/jasmineee
Summary: hey there future me! this won second place in my eighth grade writing contest and i still love it. it's not my best work, but it's still one of my favorite and it tugs at my heartstrings. does the name teresa "tess" russo sound familiar to you? that's right, she is liam and talia's daughter from "Until Death Do We Part". that actually wasn't supposed to happen. i just saw both stories again recently and realized that it was basically the same character (like physical description since she is a flat character in UDDWP) so i just changed her last name to russo and viola. in a next story, i'll explore her past a little more.





	1. Chapter 1

“Come on Miley,” Miss Katie says to me as she throws my tattered white and yellow polka dotted duffel bag into the Child Social Services’ van. A few other kids from the group home and gathered in a small cluster as they watch us. I feel a small wave of sadness to be leaving my makeshift home, but that soon disappears into the ocean of sentiment I’ve felt in my fourteen year long life. It’s okay, I’ve gone through this routine about twice every year, since I was four years old. I’m used to packing up and leaving. The lady from Social Services waves for me to get into the van.  
I sit in the passenger seat and hear the slam of the door close behind me. I strain my neck to look at what I’m leaving behind. The pale white walls and roof that covers the patio make the group home look like a nursing home. It was never really home. Home is a place that you miss. I won’t miss this place. I see Miss Katie comforting one of the girls in the cluster who is crying. She’s not crying because she will miss me. I don’t even know her. No, she is crying because, unlike me, she feels at home and is afraid the same thing that is happening to me will happen to her.  
The car ride to my new foster home is a quiet one. I’m enjoying the countryside farms and galloping horses zooming by my window when the service lady starts telling me about my new “home”. She tells me how “great” the new parent is and how “wonderful” my life will be. I let my mind wander. I’ve heard this speech about a thousand times. I honestly can’t remember what home feels like. At least, I won’t be at another group home. The older you get, the less important you are and at a group home it’s even worse. It’s not that my previous homes have been with cruel people. It’s just that those parents have their own kids, making me feel like a piece of gum they have to pull off their shoe.  
“Alright, here we are,” the service lady says snapping out of my daydreams. I get my bag out of the trunk. Hoisting it onto my shoulder, I inspect the exterior of a house like a detective to an interesting clue. We’re about fifteen minutes away from the nearest city. It’s a light blue Painted Lady house with a cute white trim. I walk around a bit and see a huge yard that has to be at least one acre. I view a gigantic oak tree looming in the back. I can just make out what looks like a rope with a tire connected to it. My heart races. In every typical family movie I have seen, there has been a tire swing. I’ve dreamt about swinging my problems away.  
I pull myself away from the yard and follow the service lady into the house. A woman, who appears to be in her mid 20’s, walks in with her curly brown hair squeezed into a ponytail. She’s wearing jeans and a faded t-shirt that says ‘Hogwarts’ on it. She smiles at me and the room suddenly seems to brighten.  
“This is Miss Teresa Russo,” the service lady nods at the woman, “Miss Teresa, this is Miley Sinclair.”  
“Hi Miley,” Miss Teresa smiles and extends her hand to me, “you can call me Tess.”  
I shake her hand and catch myself beginning to half smile. I’m not sure what to think yet, when my thoughts are interrupted by the realization that I haven’t used the restroom all day.  
“Um, could I by any chance use the restroom,” I ask a bit sheepishly.  
“Oh sure! It’s the door with the mirror on it,” Tess exclaims, motioning to the right, “go ahead and I’ll give you a tour in a bit.”  
A few minutes later, I wash my hands and walk back to the living room to find that the service lady has left. Tess is sitting on the couch sipping tea and reading a book. I step into the room timidly, and Tess looks up smiling. She seems like the type of person who smiles a lot. She puts down her tea and book on the coffee table. She pats a spot on the navy blue couch next to her, so I walk over and sit down.  
“Would you like some tea?” Tess asks, handing me a mug with flowers on it. I nod and accept the mug. I add a bit of cream and sugar, then lay back on the couch watching the steam rise.  
“How are you Miley?” she asks grinning. I shrug, I honestly don’t really know.  
“Quiet type, huh. I respect that,” Tess remarks, “So, how long have you been in foster care?”  
“About ten years,” I whisper.  
Tess nods, “I was in foster care from when I was three until I was fifteen. I got scared because I thought that no one wanted a teenager. Then, I was adopted by an amazing family and ended up taking their last name because I loved them so much. Actually, that's why I became a foster parent. I wanted to be like the people who practically saved my life."  
I look up at her and smile. I like Tess, she’s different than anyone else I’ve been with before. She actually seems to care about what I have to say.  
“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you in the system anyway?” she asks, a bit melancholy.  
I sigh, here we go again. I hate this talk, but it can’t be avoided. “My parents were in a horrific car accident. The roads were icy and they were speeding because they were late to pick me up from daycare. I try to remember them, but it gets harder and harder.” My throat tightens and I stop talking.  
Tess puts her hand on my shoulder, “it’s not your fault you know.” I expect to see pity in her eyes, but all I see is understanding. Her eyes are like a clear blue ocean of kindness washing over me. I nod. I’m starting to believe her. Tess takes a deep breath. The air is thick with grief. Suddenly, Tess grins and stands up.  
“Let’s go take that tour now!” she says excitedly as she grabs my hand and pulls me upstairs.  
She leads me down a semi-long hallway with a few doors sprinkled around. The first door has “Oliver” on it written in adorable little train letter. There are a couple more doors until the hallway ends with the last door having “Miley” on it with soft purple letters and a small butterfly that reminds me of the picture I have of a butterfly that my mom and I saw in a garden when I was little. It looks like it was made for me.  
“This is Oliver’s room. He’s the little boy I’m fostering,” Tess explains. She knocks on the door and then opens it to reveal an adorable little boy, maybe five years old, with sandy curls and huge brown eyes. I wave a little and he hesitantly waves back.  
“This is a closet with a bunch of blankets and towels if you every need it. This is the bathroom, this is my room,” she points to a simple white door and then she points to the one with ‘Miley’ on it, “and this is your room.”  
She opens the door and unveils my version of a perfect room. The comforter is yellow and white striped, the exact colors of my bag. The curtains and carpet are the same shade of yellow as the comforter and the walls are a creamy white. In the center of the wall, there is a window seat with a perfect view of the back yard. It’s amazing! She nailed my favorite color.  
“I tried to pick a happy color,” Tess explains, “you’ve gone through so much sadness in your life. I wanted to make you smile. Do you like it?”  
I nod, still breathless. She’s about to leave when a sudden question pops in my head about Oliver.  
“Wait,” I blurt out. Tess turns around. “Why is Oliver here? What happened to his family?”  
“Oh, that,” Tess smiles sadly, “well, his father was very abusive. One night, he heard his mother screaming and crept downstairs to see what was happening. He witnessed his mother get beaten to death and his father disappear into the darkness. He hasn’t said a word since he got here; a year and a half ago. He only leaves him room for meals” Tess takes a deep breath and puts on a seemingly fake grin. She turns to leave, then adds, “If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs making dinner.”  
Tess closes the door behind her, leaving me stunned. Oliver must be so traumatized. Suddenly I feel really selfish. I sometimes forget that I’m not the only one with a traumatic past. I flop onto the fluffy comforter. This has gotten me thinking that Oliver and I might be more similar than I realized. Maybe, I can help him. From now on I will make it my goal to get him to speak again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there future me! this won second place in my eighth grade writing contest and i still love it. it's not my best work, but it's still one of my favorite and it tugs at my heartstrings. does the name teresa "tess" russo sound familiar to you? that's right, she is liam and talia's daughter from "Until Death Do We Part". that actually wasn't supposed to happen. i just saw both stories again recently and realized that it was basically the same character (like physical description since she is a flat character in UDDWP) so i just changed her last name to russo and viola. in a next story, i'll explore her past a little more.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I wake up feeling refreshed; something that has not happened in a long time. The first thing I think about is getting Oliver to speak again. I have it all mapped out. First, I’ll befriend him. Once I’m his friend, he’ll trust me, and trust is the key to everything.  
I hop out of bed and go to the bathroom. I admire my, somewhat wavy, dark brown hair hovering on my shoulders and my emerald green eyes finished with dark eyelashes. I can’t remember my parents very well, but from the few pictures I have of them, I can tell that I have my mother’s hair and my father's eyes. I’m like an opposite Harry Potter. I love that I can still be connected to my parents even though their gone. It’s like I carry a part of them wherever I go. I brush my teeth quickly and head downstairs to find Oliver sitting down already, eating a piece of toast. Tess is at the stove when she sees me and smiles.  
“Morning, Miley,” she greets me, “How would you like your eggs this morning?”  
“Oh, um, scrambled, I guess,” I stammer. I never get to choose my own items or food and having a choice always makes me a little nervous.  
I sit down across from Oliver. “Hi, I’m Miley.” I say, mustering up all the joy that I can. Oliver looks up at me and the edges of his mouth turn up slightly before he looks at his toast again. Ah yes, the half smile. I am the queen of half smiles. It’s what happens when you don’t want to seem rude but you also don’t want to let your guard down. He just needs to get warmed up to me.   
“You’re Oliver, right?” I ask cautiously.   
He looks up again, surprised. Then, he smiles, full on smiles, and nods. My plan is working faster than I thought. I notice his Thomas and Friends pajama shirt.   
“Do you like trains?” I ask as Tess places my eggs in front of me. He nods again. Tess gives me toast and I thank her. She hands Oliver eggs and then leaves the room. “Do you like eggs?” I ask him. He nods and the smile slips away. This could take some time.  
About an hour later, I knock on Oliver’s door. When there is no reply, I open the door a crack to see him playing with trains. I push open the door wider.  
“Can I play?” I ask smiling. He nods and hands my a green train. I put in down onto the fuzzy carpet track and make little train noises. He smiles a bit and moves his train around. My plan is working slowly but surely. We play trains for the rest of the afternoon contently, although silently.   
The next few days days pass by quickly. Every time I greet Oliver in the morning, his smile grows bigger. Tess seems to notice as well. One day, we play cars and the next we play Candy Land. He begins to communicate with me using hand motions. They were a bit tricky to comprehend at first, but I think I’ve got the hang of it. I’m starting to feel like a big sister and it’s absolutely amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reading this back, i'm realizing how fast paced it is and i kinda regret it, but i'm too lazy to change it


	3. Chapter 3

A couple of weeks later, I can feel summer coming to an end like a good dream when you’re about to wake up. At first, I was hesitant to let Tess in, but now that I know she actually understands what I've been through, I feel like I can trust her more. I still haven’t been on the tire swing, but I want to change that. It’s the perfect opportunity to bond with Oliver a bit more.  
“Hey, Tess!” I holler as she turns around, “would it be okay if I took Oliver outside for a while?”  
“Sure, that’s a great idea,” Tess agrees. I’m running upstairs when she adds, “just watch out for my tulips!”   
I burst into Oliver’s room and exclaim, “Oliver, let’s go outside!” He looks up, nods, jumping quickly up from his trains set. I grab his hand and we run outside. I pick him up and put him in the tire swing. He grabs onto the fraying but strong rope while I push him slowly. As he get comfortable, he kicks his legs faster  
“Do you want to go higher?” I question, grinning. Oliver nods enthusiastically. I push him higher and higher until I hear it. He laughs. It catches me so off guard I stop pushing and move out of the way to stare at him.   
He laughed. He laughed! I know it’s not speaking, but it’s really close. I could burst with pride right now. Oliver kicks his legs, urging me to push him again. I smile and quickly follow his command.  
We come back inside breathless. As Oliver releases my hand and hustles upstairs, Tess raises her eyebrows at me, inquiring about our adventure.  
“Okay, you are beaming as bright as the sun out there. What happened?” she interrogates, excitedly.  
I look over at her and whisper happily, “he laughed.”  
“What?” Tess asks, puzzled.   
“I got him to laugh! That’s the closest I’ve gotten him to speaking yet!” I exclaim. Tess smiles and squeezes my hand. I’m about to go upstairs when she adds,  
“I’m really proud of you, Miley. You never give up,” she takes a deep breath, “Now, I know you haven’t been with me very long, but I feel like we have a connection.We’ve gone through lot of the same situations and we both have had trouble trusting people. No I hope you trust me because I’m trying to get legal custody of Oliver. Would you like to stay, too?”  
All of the emotions of the day suddenly swell up in me like a raging ocean and I burst into tears. Tess looks at me, her kind eyes appearing concerned.  
“Yes, I would absolutely love that,” I exclaim, the happiest I had been in my entire life. Tess hugs me, cradling my head in her hand in a way that suddenly brings back memories of my mother.  
“Now, I know I’m not your mom, but, I’ll try to make you feel at home and you can be Oliver’s sister.” she exclaims. I hop onto the couch next to Tess, hoping this moment will never end.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, I tiptoe down the stairs, careful not to wake Oliver, who decided to sleep in. I step into the kitchen with Tess’s back to me. She’s on the phone.  
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she says calmly to the other line, “I understand that having Miley here will be a burden and will be difficult. I get it.”  
I leave before I can hear the rest. Burden? She thinks I’m a burden? The one person who I thought genuinely cared about me turned out to be just like everyone else.   
I storm upstairs, pack my bag, and open my window. I climb out slowly and maneuver out onto a thick branch of a different, but still big tree. I throw my bag into the yard and jump carefully to the next branches until I’m on the ground. I don’t know where to go, so I just run.   
After about an hour of running, I end up at a small rickety bridge over an even smaller creek. I find a worn out lawn chair directly below the bridge left behind from some camping trip I suppose, since there are also some burnt sticks. I just happen to have a granola bar in my bag. It’s stale, but it will do. I huddle in a ball on the chair. As I start to doze off, I hear my name being called. A beam from a flashlight hits me  
“Miley! Oh my gosh! You scared me so bad!” I can hear Tess saying.  
“Since when do you care?” I snap at her.  
“What?!? What on earth are you talking about?” Tess exclaims, confused as she comes sprinting into sight.  
“You called me a burden. I heard you on the phone,” I say, trying to hold back tears.  
“Oh, Miley. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean it. I swear. Sometimes I let my fears get in front of me and say things I shouldn’t. I’m so sorry. Please come home,” Tess’s voice quivers at the end.  
I blink, still trying to hold back tears. I want to believe her.  
“Miley, Miley,” the voice of a young boy exclaims. It takes me a while to realize it’s Oliver.  
“Oliver?” I squint, to see better. He comes running and hugs me. I hug him back.  
“Come home,” he begs, “You’re my sister!”  
I’m so touched, I can’t hold the tears in. They roll down my face like little raindrops. I can’t let Oliver down. He needs me just as much as I need him. He let out few little words, just for me. And those few little words make me realize that I’m finally home.


End file.
